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Ranked during his lifetime as the second most popular British novelist behind the esteemed Charles Dickens, Edgar Wallace was busy contributing to the original "King Kong" film when he died in 1932. But his work continued to be a cottage industry for decades to come. His crime novels were adapted again and again during Hollywood's Golden Age--one or several per year. A dramatic adaptation of one of his most famous books, "The Crimson Circle," hit the screens in '36, and his mystery play "The Ringer" was turned into a '52 movie with Herbert Lom. Separately, the German film industry latched onto his work for a 13-year run of "Krimis," a reference to the German words for criminal film. From '59 through '72, his work was re-introduced to Germany at the behest of a Danish company, Rialto, with the thriller "The Face of the Frog," based on "The Fellowship of the Frog." In '92, a French TV network re-launched his crime book "The Mixer" as a well-received TV series.

Ranked during his lifetime as the second most popular British novelist behind the esteemed Charles Dickens, Edgar Wallace was busy contributing to the original "King Kong" film when he died in 1932. But his work continued to be a cottage industry for decades to come. His crime novels were adapted again and again during Hollywood's Golden Age--one or several per year. A dramatic adaptation of one of his most famous books, "The Crimson Circle," hit the screens in '36, and his mystery play "The Ringer" was turned into a '52 movie with Herbert Lom. Separately, the German film industry latched onto his work for a 13-year run of "Krimis," a reference to the German words for criminal film. From '59 through '72, his work was re-introduced to Germany at the behest of a Danish company, Rialto, with the thriller "The Face of the Frog," based on "The Fellowship of the Frog." In '92, a French TV network re-launched his crime book "The Mixer" as a well-received TV series.